James Nagy – 1/12/07

This page was last updated on January 16, 2007.

Mutual protection of rights; James Nagy; Beaver County Times; January 12, 2007.

You probably recall most of Mr. Nagy’s letters are simply vehicles to bash Republicans in general and President Bush in particular.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Since reading last Thursday’s editorial page, I have concluded that most Americans feel they are more equal than the rest of humanity.

“Superficially, a letter writer may have had cause to call The Times’ headline about President Ford’s opinion of the war in Iraq disrespectful.”

[RWC] Though Mr. Nagy didn’t do us the courtesy of specifying the letter to which he refers, I believe it was the letter entitled “Paper is the enemy within” of January 4^th written by Steven Legg.

Mr. Legg’s letter never said “The Times’ headline about President Ford’s opinion of the war in Iraq [was] disrespectful.”

“However, where does the writer model the respect he expects others to show? He doesn’t. Instead, he disrespectfully jumps to the conclusion that The Times has deliberately picked the occasion of Ford’s funeral to break the inconvenient truth that had his (Ford’s) opinion been sought, he would have advised against this war in Iraq. The information came to light during a lengthy interview by a biographer.

“At Ford’s request, and for reasons known only to him, the story was not to be released until after his death. First of all, a bias does not necessarily undermine a writer’s ability to be objective. Second, if we hope to uphold the Bill of Rights while trimming fat from the budget, we will have to help protecting one another’s rights.”

[RWC] “[A] bias does not necessarily undermine a writer’s ability to be objective?” While that’s technically true, how often is it true in practice? For example, if you believe with your heart and soul the Earth is flat, will you write a story presenting facts to the contrary?

Mr. Nagy completely changes subjects in the middle of this paragraph.

“James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank, once said: ‘Our planet is not balanced. Too few control too much, and too many have too little to hope for. Too much turmoil, too many wars. Too much suffering.’

“As left wing as these statements may seem at first, Wolfensohn really is looking out for the interests of the wealthy. With 1.2 billion people living on less than $1 a day and almost half the people of the world living on less than $2 a day, disputes between the haves and the have-nots are almost a certainty.”

[RWC] “Wolfensohn really is looking out for the interests of the wealthy?” Is Mr. Nagy kidding? Mr. Nagy fails to note the vast majority of world poverty is in countries run by dictators and/or communist/socialist governments.

“The problem is such a potential threat to world peace that it has been discussed at the Security Council. Again, we will have to protect one another’s rights if we want a just peace.”

[RWC] Huh?